It was coined as Multi-User Dungeon so really that's good enough for me. Sure it sounds horrible since the term "dungeon" conjures images of tabletop gaming with really bad RPGs but in many cases such a concept certainly applies. Domain is a bit odd depending on the definition of "domain" being used though the term could apply. Dimension is simply poor in any regard as it ranges from pretentious to outright ridiculous.

Bartle, Richard (2003). Designing Virtual Worlds. New Riders. pp. 9-10, 741. ISBN 0-1310-1816-7. "[pp. 9-10] TinyMUD was deliberately intended to be distanced from the prevailing hack-and-slay AberMUD style, and the "D" in its name was said to stand for "Dimension" (or, occasionally, "Domain") rather than "Dungeon;" this is the ultimate cause of the MUD/MU* distinction that was to arise some years later. [pp. 741] The "D" in MUD stands for "Dungeon" [...] because the version of ZORK Roy played was a Fortran port called DUNGEN."

Bartle, Richard (2003). Designing Virtual Worlds. New Riders. pp. 9-10, 741. ISBN 0-1310-1816-7. "[pp. 9-10] TinyMUD was deliberately intended to be distanced from the prevailing hack-and-slay AberMUD style, and the "D" in its name was said to stand for "Dimension" (or, occasionally, "Domain") rather than "Dungeon;" this is the ultimate cause of the MUD/MU* distinction that was to arise some years later. [pp. 741] The "D" in MUD stands for "Dungeon" [...] because the version of ZORK Roy played was a Fortran port called DUNGEN."

Cool quote. It explains why polls like this are made and why there isn't a consensus about MUD. It also pretty much tells us what the D originally stood for. I like Multi User Dungeon myself. The word Dungeon does not bother me as it appears to bother some people. I wonder why? (aside from prof's explanation of it being associated with D&D; but some people's dislike for D&D is the subject for another poll/thread I imagine)

Cool quote. It explains why polls like this are made and why there isn't a consensus about MUD. It also pretty much tells us what the D originally stood for. I like Multi User Dungeon myself. The word Dungeon does not bother me as it appears to bother some people. I wonder why? (aside from prof's explanation of it being associated with D&D; but some people's dislike for D&D is the subject for another poll/thread I imagine)

Dislike for D&D isn't the issue. Games that have no relation to D&D being linked to it is the issue.

If I was making a game about heroes that travel through a structure, room by room, fighting opponents, then the association would be fine. It may be an above-ground forest and not a classic "dungeon", but the connotations are appropriate for the style of game I'd be building.

If I was making a game where characters have relatively little need to explore the environment, and are interacting in non-combat ways with the environment and other inhabitants of the world (AI or other players) then "dungeon" really implies the wrong sort of game.

Ironclaw Online, as an example, is a political renaissance-themed game, about joining guilds, building alliances, playing politics, and socially choosing sides. Although you can pull out a sword and attack someone, that's not the point of the game (And you'd get arrested unless you, y'know, played politics to avoid getting accused, or get let off the charge.) Although the game world is made out of a series of interconnected "rooms", there would be no need to walk into the cathedral unless your character wanted to pray or do some other religious action. There would be no need to explore unless you wanted to (because the cathedral is marked on the map), you could, theoretically, play the game fine without exploring more than five or so rooms. So when we talk about a "dungeon", we're giving the impression that the game is structured, vaguely, along D&D lines where you move from room to room, defeating opponents or other players. In games where the gameplay and philosophy is very dissimilar to that, "dungeon" is a misleading term.

I'm not arguing it should be changed, I'm happy enough with the meaningless term "MUD", as Ide points out. That's a "game type" name in its own right, these days, regardless of what it originally stood for. Similarly, I'm happy for MUX to refer to either rules-light, or socially-focussed MUDs (and for MUX to be a subset of MUD.) The MUD/MUX distinction solves the above problem.

Personally, I don't much care. I'll call my game either ICO, Ironclaw Online, "a MUD", "a MUX", or "a prose text roleplaying game" depending on who I'm talking to, and which term they are most likely to understand.

What it originally meant certainly is important but Domain always appealed to me more. It fits pretty much any genre of MUD perfectly. Dungeon has always made me think of hack n slashy MUDs. You know like the old text dungeon crawlers...

What it originally meant certainly is important but Domain always appealed to me more. It fits pretty much any genre of MUD perfectly. Dungeon has always made me think of hack n slashy MUDs. You know like the old text dungeon crawlers...